“I can do that.”
“I’ll be there, as well as a couple of my guys, but I think this is the perfect opportunity for you to get your feet wet. There will be a dozen of us working in different capacities, between my guys and the Protectors, but another pair of eyes and fists can’t hurt.”
“Sounds like fun. Zaan invited everyone on the team and I was waffling about going, but this works out well.”
“I’ll email you the details. If you’d like to drive down with me, you’re welcome to, or you can meet us there.”
“Let me think about it and I’ll let you know, okay?”
“No problem. Stop by the office and grab a shirt, yeah? Black jeans, cargo pants or slacks, something you can move in, should the need arise. Don’t care what you have on your feet as long as you can run in them. I don’t foresee a problem, but you’re there to learn, and wearing the right uniform is part of it.”
“I’ll swing by tomorrow.”
“See you then.”
I disconnected and considered texting Isla but opted not to. She’d been fairly ambivalent about the idea of me training with Chains, so I hadn’t said much about the details of my plan to work with him. She knew Chains was going to teach me to shoot and I was working with a martial arts expert, but I wasn’t sure how much of that she put together. I’d made it sound like this was just more potential prep to work for the FBI, and while I hadn’t been intentionally deceitful, it felt like I was keeping things from her.
Things were a little strained between us now that she was gone, just as I’d suspected they would be. Not that we’d fought or had any issues, but it was rough finding the time to be intimate with five thousand miles and an eight-hour time difference between us. There were no quick weekend trips on the horizon, or late-night phone sex interludes, or anything else that was fun like that because we were living completely different lives.
Since there was nothing I could do about it, I’d put Isla out of my mind when I got to the Westfield & Carruthers office the next day and found Chains sitting in his office with a muscular guy who was undoubtedly one of his employees.
“Hey, mate.” Chains looked up. He pulled something from under his desk and tossed it at me. “I think that’ll fit.”
I held the black polo shirt up in front of me and nodded. “I think so. Thanks.”
“This is Landon Grimshaw,” Chains said, motioning to the other man in the room. “You’ll be working with him Saturday night.”
Landon stood up and held out his hand. “My friends call me Grim.”
“Nice to meet you.” I shook it.
“I’m a big Sidewinders fan,” he said with a grin. “Looking forward to seeing you guys bring home the championship this season.”
“You and me both,” I said.
“And I’m happy to show you the ropes at the show. We’re not expecting any issues, but you never know.”
“I’d rather nothing went wrong,” I said, “but I’ll be on alert, just in case.”
“I’m not worried,” Chains said. “And in a situation like that, I’m sure you can handle yourself.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“I hear you’re learning to shoot,” Grim said. “If you want to go down to the range, I’m about to get some practice in.”
“I was going to the gym, but I can go later,” I replied. “Let’s do it.”
On Friday, I met up with most of my teammates at the arena. We’d been working out daily, but usually at different times, and some of the guys went to different gyms or worked out at the arena with our trainers, so I didn’t see everyone. There was a little over a week until the beginning of training camp and we’d rented out the arena for a fun day with our families. Normally I didn’t attend the yearly event, but I hadn’t been on skates since May and it was time to get my ass in gear.
“Haven’t seen much of you since Isla left,” Ian said, sinking down next to me as I laced up my skates.
“Been working out like a madman,” I replied. “And I’m taking some martial arts classes too. Not to mention my college class started last week.”
“I’m proud of you,” he said quietly. “It’s hard to step out of your comfort zone to do something like that. What class did you wind up taking?”
“English 101,” I said with a laugh. “I figured I should get it over with. Of course, if I get a shitty score on the SAT and wind up not being admitted, it’ll be a big waste of time, but I think I’ve got this.”
“If you need me to proofread your papers, I’m happy to,” Ian said, clapping me on the back. “But today, I promised my wife I wouldn’t let her fall, so I’m off to help her onto the ice.”
“She needs to learn to skate!” I called after him, grinning.
I headed onto the ice, looking around to see who was here. Toli had one of his four sons in his arms and I skated in that direction.
“Hey! Why isn’t he skating yet?”
Toli turned to me with a rueful look on his face. “Tessa says he has to be three.”
“I said no such thing,” Tessa said, coming from behind him. “You just can’t handle teaching all three of them at once. Four, if you count Raina.” Raina was Tessa’s daughter from her first marriage. Toli had Anton, Tessa had Raina, and together, they had three more—Alex, Andy and A.J. I thought those were their names, though it was hard to keep up with all of my teammates’ kids’ names.
“This is Andy,” Toli said as I looked at two almost identical tow-headed boys. “That’s Alex. He can skate a little but gets tired easily. Raina is off
